Affective lability, defined as the propensity to experience excessive and unpredictable changes in mood, has been proposed as a potential transdiagnostic predictor of major mood and psychotic ...disorders. A parental diagnosis of bipolar disorder has been associated with increased affective lability in offspring. However, the association between affective lability and family history of other mood and psychotic disorders has not been examined. We measured affective lability using the self- and parent-reported Children’s Affective Lability Scale in a cohort of 320 youth aged 6–17 years, including 137 offspring of a parent with major depressive disorder, 68 offspring of a parent with bipolar disorder, 24 offspring of a parent with schizophrenia, and 91 offspring of control parents. We tested differences in affective lability between groups using mixed-effects linear regression. Offspring of a parent with major depressive disorder (
β
= 0.46, 95% CI 0.17–0.76,
p
= 0.002) or bipolar disorder (
β
= 0.47, 95% CI 0.12–0.81,
p
= 0.008) had significantly higher affective lability scores than control offspring. Affective lability did not differ significantly between offspring of a parent with schizophrenia and offspring of control parents. Our results suggest that elevated affective lability during childhood is a marker of familial risk for mood disorders.
•Offspring of parents with mood disorder spend less time in active behaviors.•Offspring of parents with mood disorders spend more time using screens.•Mothers' current depressive symptoms are ...associated with less offspring active time.•Mothers' current depressive symptoms are associated with more offspring screen time.•Parental schizophrenia has no significant effect on offspring screen and active time.
Activities may be modifiable factors that moderate the risk and resilience in the development of mental health and illness. Youth who spend more time using screens are more likely to have poor mental health. Conversely, time spent engaged in active behaviors (i.e., physical activity, socializing and reading) is associated with better mental health. The choice of activities may be important in offspring of parents with mental illness, who are at increased risk for developing mental disorders. Among 357 youth of the FORBOW (Families Overcoming Risks and Building Opportunities for Well-being) cohort aged 6–21, we examined whether parental diagnosis of mental illness (i.e., major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and current levels of depression influenced the amount of time their offspring spent using screens and engaging in active behaviors. Parental history of mental illness and higher levels of current depression in mothers were associated with less time spent engaged in active behaviors and more time spent using screens. Creating opportunities and incentives for active behaviors may redress the balance between youth with and without a familial history of mental illness.
Aim
We sought to examine the structure, internal consistency, convergent and criterion validity of the Youth Experience Tracker Instrument (YETI), a new brief self‐report measure designed to ...facilitate early identification of risk for severe forms of mental illness, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Methods
We collected 716 YETIs from 315 individuals aged 8 to 27 with and without familial risk of severe mental illness. The YETI measures six developmental antecedents that precede and predict serious forms of mental illness: affective lability, anxiety, basic symptoms, depressive symptoms, psychotic‐like experiences, and sleep. A battery of concurrent questionnaires and interviews measured the same constructs.
Results
The best‐fitting bifactor model supported the validity of both total score and antecedent‐specific subscales. Internal consistency was high for the total score (ω = 0.94) and subscales (ω = 0.80‐0.92; ρ = 0.72). The total score captured the majority of information from the 26 YETI items (hierarchical omega ωh = 0.74). Correlations of YETI subscales with established measures of the same constructs (r = 0.45‐0.80) suggested adequate convergent validity. We propose cut‐offs with high negative predictive values to facilitate efficient risk screening.
Conclusion
The YETI, a brief self‐report measure of antecedents, provides an alternative to using multiple longer instruments. Future research may examine the predictive validity of the YETI for the onset of major mood and psychotic disorders.
Background
Cannabis use is a risk factor for severe mental illness. However, cannabis does not affect everyone equally. Genetic information may help identify individuals who are more vulnerable to ...the harmful effects of cannabis on mental health. A common genetic variant within the AKT1 gene selectively increases risk of psychosis, only among those who use cannabis. Therapeutically oriented genetic counselling may enable us to reduce cannabis exposure among genetically sensitive individuals.
Methods
Using a trial‐within‐cohort design, we aim to test if genetic counselling, including the option to receive AKT1 rs2494732 genotype, reduces cannabis use. To this end, we have designed a genetic counselling intervention: Interdisciplinary approach to Maximize Adolescent potential: Genetic counselling Intervention to reduce Negative Environmental effects (IMAGINE).
Results
IMAGINE will be implemented in a cohort of children and youth enriched for familial risk for major mood and psychotic disorders. Approximately 110 eligible individuals aged 12–21 years will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to be offered a single genetic counselling session with a board‐certified genetic counsellor, or not. Allocated youth will also be invited to attend a follow‐up session approximately 1 month following the intervention. The primary outcome will be cannabis use (measured by self‐report or urine screen) at subsequent annual assessments as part of the larger cohort study. Secondary outcomes include intervention acceptability and psychopathology.
Conclusion
This study represents the first translational application of a gene–environment interaction to improve mental health and test an intervention with potential public health benefits. This study is registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03601026).
Psychotic symptoms are common during childhood and adolescence and may indicate transdiagnostic risk of future psychiatric disorders. Lower visual memory ability has been suggested as a potential ...indicator of future risk of mental illness. The relationship between visual memory and clinician-confirmed definite psychotic symptoms in youth has not yet been explored.
We examined visual memory and psychotic symptoms among 205 participants aged 7-27 years in a cohort enriched for parental mood and psychotic disorders. We assessed visual memory using the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) and psychotic symptoms using validated semi-structured interview measures. We tested the relationship between visual memory and psychotic symptoms using mixed-effects logistic regression.
After accounting for age, sex, and family clustering, we found that psychotic symptoms were significantly associated with lower visual memory (OR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.06-3.06, p = 0.030). This result was unchanged after accounting for general cognitive ability.
Lower visual memory performance is associated with psychotic symptoms among youth, regardless of general cognitive ability. This finding may inform future targeted early interventions.
Briefly, evidence from meta-analyses can result in the highest level of evidence, but we did not rely on abstracts for conclusions.2 We examined key factors of each study from any meta-analysis, ...including whether at least 2 studies used the same manual, choice of control conditions, replication by another research group, overall sample size, and finally the multiple subanalyses conducted.
Use of Socioeconomic Status in Health Research Uher, Rudolf; Dragomirecka, Eva; Papezova, Hana ...
JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association,
04/2006, Volume:
295, Issue:
15
Journal Article
PDF
